Darth Tyranus
Dooku was a Jedi Master who fell to the dark side of the Force and became a Dark Lord of the Sith, known as Darth Tyranus. Born into a noble family on the planet Serenno, he was the heir to vast wealth and the noble title of Count. Dooku was taken by the Jedi Order as a child and apprenticed to Thame Cerulian. As a Jedi Knight, he took Qui-Gon Jinn as his first Padawan, and later trained Komari Vosa. Dooku was a respected instructor in the Jedi Temple and one of the most renowned swordsmen in the galaxy, on par only with Masters Yoda and Mace Windu. Dooku spent nearly seventy years as a Jedi, but a disastrous battle on Galidraan shook his faith in the Order and the Galactic Republic. He fell under the influence of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of Naboo, and left the Jedi Order. After learning that Palpatine was secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, Dooku turned to the Dark side and became a Dark Lord of the Sith himself, replacing Darth Maul as Sidious's second apprentice. His new master bestowed upon him the Sith title of Darth Tyranus. Claiming his birthright as Count of Serenno and his vast fortune, Dooku conspired with Sidious to force the galaxy into a war that would bring the Sith to power. He forged ties between corporations and planets discontented with the Republic, and became the leader of the Separatist movement that coalesced into the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Thousands of star systems flocked to Dooku's banner and seceded from the Galactic Republic. As the political leader of the Confederacy, Dooku led the organization against the Republic in a conflict that would become known as the Clone Wars. He recruited and trained four of his greatest warriors to lead the Separatist Droid Army: Durge, the brutish Gen'Dai bounty hunter; Asajj Ventress, Dooku's protégé and Dark Jedi apprentice; General Sev'rance Tann, Chiss commander and Dark Acolyte; and General Grievous, the infamous Jedi-slaying cyborg and droid leader. The war culminated in a great battle over the Republic capital of Coruscant. In a duel aboard the Separatist flagship Invisible Hand, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker defeated Dooku. Skywalker then executed the dismembered and helpless Dooku at the instigation of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Tyranus's own Sith Master. He would quickly be replaced by the very man who had killed him, Anakin Skywalker, who would soon fall to the Dark side and be transformed into the fearsome Darth Vader. Appearance and Personality Master Dooku was an accomplished philosopher, orator, politician, and warrior, regarded as one of the greatest Jedi ever for his strength of character and his strength in the Force. Yoda considered him to be the Temple's greatest student, and he considered Dooku's fall to be one of the Order's greatest failures. Toward the end of the Clone Wars, Dooku had been a practitioner of the Force for nearly eight decades, and a Sith Lord for more than ten years. Even as a youngling, Dooku felt driven to succeed. He was fully devoted to the ideals of the Jedi Order and the ideal of service to the galaxy. He sought to become a great Jedi Master, and for the vast majority of his life, he did not even consider the possibility of a life outside the Order. He knew of his heritage as a nobleman and felt self-conscious about it on occasion in his younger days. Dooku chose Padawans he thought had the potential to become great Jedi themselves, and endeavored to teach them all he knew. Dooku had no known romantic relationships, but his Padawan Komari Vosa was infatuated with him. This was one of the factors that led to his recommendation that she be dismissed from the Jedi Order. Dooku held very high expectations of government as a Jedi, and was perceived by his peers as a political idealist. He became increasingly disillusioned with the Republic in the period before his defection from the Jedi Order, and eventually held the opinion that the Jedi betrayed themselves by serving the politicians. In particular, he was highly critical of the Council's handling of the Battles of Galidraan and Baltizaar. The Jedi Council's perceived betrayal of the ideals of the Order greatly influenced Dooku in his fall to the dark side. Dooku never forgave betrayal and he appeared to have virtually no tolerance for it. For instance, during a confrontation with Lorian Nod, a former friend who had once tried to frame him, Dooku nearly killed his adversary despite the fact that he was still a Jedi Knight at the time. However, his Padawan Qui-Gon Jinn successfully appealed to Dooku's honor as a Jedi, and Dooku relented. After his conversion, his reactions regarding betrayal took the same ruthless turn as the rest of his behavioral traits; he later killed Nod during the Clone Wars without a second thought when Nod attempted to oppose him. As Tyranus, Dooku's discussion about returning to the light side with Yoda on Vjun immediately broke down when he discovered that Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were present, interpreting their presence as a personal betrayal by Yoda. The arrival of the two Jedi had in fact been pre-arranged by Darth Sidious, who knew of Dooku's intolerance for betrayal and used it as a tool to ensure his loyalty. As Tyranus, Dooku became a Humanocentrist. While he remained a connoisseur of alien art and antiquities, he secretly despised most if not all of the corrupt aliens on the Separatist Council, though he reserved a measure of respect for the Geonosian Poggle. He divided the entire galaxy into two categories: threats and assets. The threat category was for beings or institutions that interfered with his personal advancement and would have to be eliminated, the asset category being for those who could aid, or at least not hinder his advancement. By the time of the Clone Wars, Dooku believed that the sorrow and injustice of the galaxy could only be responded to with anger and hate. He came to believe that the Jedi Order should embrace the dark side and rule the galaxy alone without the interference of the Senate. As Tyranus, he planned to transform the Jedi into a Sith Army, and intended to forcibly recruit Force-users into its ranks. While often assuming a genteel and civilized manner, Dooku had no qualms about torturing or ordering the deaths of hundreds of his former comrades, nor about committing any number of atrocities as leader of the Separatists. Dooku also had a certain fondness for Obi-Wan Kenobi - viewing him as a grandson-like figure - and would have liked to recruit the Jedi Master to his cause. However, Dooku never allowed this slight fondness to cross into the territory of mercy or compassion, and never hesitated with regard to eliminating Kenobi when he could. Powers and Abilities Lightsaber Training Before his resignation, Dooku was known as one of the most skilled duelists and lightsaber instructors in the Jedi Order. He was the Jedi Temple's most agile swordmaster and instructor. Dooku was the only Jedi besides Yoda who was known to have bested Mace Windu at sparring, and during the time of the Confederacy Crisis, it was said that aside from Yoda, only Windu would have been his equal on neutral ground. Though styles like Form I, Form III, and Form V were more practical in the age of blasters, Dooku's competitive spirit drove him toward the second form of lightsaber combat, Makashi. He exclusively utilized Makashi in combat, believing that duelists who devoted themselves to the study of multiple combat forms would never attain the same level of mastery as ones who devoted themselves to a single style. In addition, he appreciated the lack of acrobatics that the style possessed, and was fairly disdainful of combat styles that utilized extensive acrobatics like Ataru. Despite his specialization, he maintained a working knowledge of the other forms, and was competent enough with them to instruct the infamous General Grievous in their use. In combat, he used his bladework to redirect and deflect, rather than attempting to meet his opponent head on. He fended off enemies with a minimal expenditure of energy before unleashing rapid and devastating counters, and was known to attack with a fencing-style thrust. As per Makashi training regimens, Dooku relied heavily on his footwork to outmaneuver his enemy, basing himself on balance, back-and-forth charges, and sudden retreats. His skill in Form II was such that he could hold his own against up to four opponents with little difficulty, despite the fact that Makashi was not suited for combat against multiple opponents. He was one of a very few practitioners of dueling-centric Makashi in the Order at the time, and unmatched in his mastery of it. However, like virtually all Makashi practitioners, Dooku had a great deal of difficulty producing any kinetic energy in his attacks. This flaw would eventually prove to be his undoing. Upon joining the Sith, Darth Tyranus had little left to learn about dueling, instead learning the Sith art of Dun Möch, a tactic that focused on disrupting an opponent's concentration by the use of psychological warfare. His most notable usages of the technique were against Anakin Skywalker. However, each time he applied it, it backfired, and he only encouraged Skywalker to draw on his anger, which more often than not spurred him on to victory. The first instance of this on Tatooine resulted in Tyranus' defeat, although he survived the incident. His second attempt during his final duel with Skywalker onboard the Invisible Hand was nearly successful. Unfortunately for Dooku, it too backfired, as his taunts only encouraged Skywalker to fall into a rage and break through Tyranus' defenses. This time, Dooku did not survive. Force Abilities As a Jedi, Dooku was a renowned student of the Force and learned many of the Jedi arts. He was recognized as a skilled master of telekinesis, and lectured on the subject as a Jedi Master. He often used his mastery of telekinesis to augment his dueling prowess, and was quite skilled at directly attacking other Force adepts with telekinetic strikes. He was also capable of a limited form of flight. As a Sith Lord, he sometimes combined telekinesis with the use of Force lightning or Force choke. Despite his mastery of telekinesis, he intensely disliked the saber throw technique, believing that one's lightsaber should never have to leave one's hand. Dooku also had knowledge of the Living Force, and used it once to heal himself of a deadly plague. In addition, he was able to tame animals and bend them to his will, most notably a krayt dragon. As Darth Tyranus, he learned how to forcibly rip information out of the minds of his enemies with the Force. Dooku also mastered the Qey'tek meditation, which allowed him to hide his presence in the Force. Opposing Jedi were usually unable to pierce this concealment, although it was still possible for a skilled Force adept to detect him if they knew what to look for. Kenobi, for instance, managed to sense his location on Tythe after having previously been made aware that Dooku was somewhere on the planet. After his conversion to the dark side, Tyranus mastered many of its more infamous powers. He was highly skilled with the ability of Force choke, using it to kill his former Padawan Komari Vosa and to defeat Obi-Wan Kenobi during their final encounter. He also had a particular liking for the Force lightning ability. He used it to incapacitate Anakin Skywalker on Geonosis and attempted to do the same to both Obi-Wan and Yoda, though the latter two were able to block it. Dooku would display his mastery of this power on numerous other occasions. RPG D6 Stats Type: Dark Lord of the Sith DEXTERITY 3D Blasters 4D, Dodge 7D+1, Lightsaber 9D+2, Lightsaber: Form II: Makashi 12D+1, Lightsaber: Form: Dun Möch 10D+2, Melee Combat 8D+2 KNOWLEDGE 3D+2 Alien species 5D, Bureaucracy 7D+2, Business 5D+1, Cultures 6D, Intimidation 8D+2, Languages 6D, Planetary Systems 4D+2, (s)Scholar: Jedi Lore 8D, (s)Scholar: Sith Lore 5D+2, Streetwise 6D, Value 6D+2, Willpower 8D MECHANICAL 2D+2 Repulsorlift Operation 4D+1, Space Transports 4D PERCEPTION 4D Con 7D+2, Persuasion 9D, Search 5D+1 STRENGTH 2D+2 Climbing/Jumping 4D, Stamina 3D+2 TECHNICAL 2D Computer Programming/Repair 3D+2, Lightsaber Repair 4D+2 Special Abilities: Lightsaber Combat Form I: Shii-Cho: Advance, Brawl, Defensive Stance, Disarming Slash, Heavy Strike, Push, Quick Strike, Sarlacc Sweep. Lightsaber Combat Form II: Makashi: Receives +1D to attack and parry rolls against other lightsabers. -1D to attempts of blocking or redirecting ranged attacks. Contentious Opportunity, Disarm/Dismember, Heavy Thrust, Makashi Riposte, Quick Thrust, Ruse. Lightsaber Combat Form: Dun Möch: Dun Möch users receive a bonus equaling one point per con, persuasion or intimidation die (that has to be chosen at start of round). This bonus may be distributed to attack or parry rolls during a combat round. Heavy Parry, Random Strike, Vicious Taunt Force Skills: Control 11D, Sense 9D, Alter 9D+2 Force Powers (These are the known powers that Dooku possessed.): Control: Absorb/Dissipate Energy, Accelerate Healing, Concentration, Control Disease, Control Pain, Detoxify Poison, Enhance Attribute, Force Of Will, Hibernation Trance, Pall Of The Dark Side, Rage, Reduce Injury, Remain Conscious, Remove Fatigue, Resist Stun Sense: Beast Languages, Combat Sense, Danger Sense, Life Detection, Life Sense, Receptive Telepathy, Sense Disturbance, Sense Force Alter: Force Jump, Injure/Kill, Telekinesis Control and Sense: Lightsaber Combat, Projective Telepathy Control and Alter: Force Lightning, Inflict Pain, Memory Walk Control, Sense and Alter: Affect Mind, Telekinetic Kill Sense and Alter: Ballistakinesis, Force Wind This character is Force-Sensitive. Force Points: 10 Dark Side Points: 12 Character Points: 17 Move: 10 Equipment: Lightsaber (5D), Robes, Geonosian Solar Sailer (Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop), Vast personal wealth Category:Characters Category:Non-Player Characters Category:Force-sensitive Category:Deceased Characters